Excel 2007: Even Quicker Formulas

Posted By
On
February 29, 2008 @ 3:05 PM
In
MS Excel,MS Office Help |
No Comments

Excel 2007: Even Quicker Formulas

Last week, we discussed quick searches for formulas in MS Excel. Although Excel 2007 has some easy browsing techniques if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, what if you know what you need, but can’t remember the exact name of the formula?

Is there a quick way to get to that specific spelling without going to the Formula ribbon?

I’m happy to report that Excel 2007 can give you a hand with that little problem in a pretty efficient way!

The next time you can’t remember the exact formula name, don’t go wandering around looking for it. Instead, simply start the formula with the usual “=” and then type the first letter or two of the formula you need.

What you’ll find is that Excel 2007 will automatically provide an alphabetical list of formula names (and descriptions, when selected), beginning with the letter(s) you entered. All you need to do is browse through the much smaller list and select the correct one.

Now, there’s an extra point I’d like to make regarding this handy little list.

If you’re like me, you tend to use the keyboard quite a bit. So, it’s natural that when the list opens and you spot the formula you’re looking for, you reach for the arrow keys to highlight it and then hit the Enter key.

Got an error, didn’t you?

In order to select the formula name using your keyboard, you need to use the Tab key.

Or, if you prefer the mouse, all you have to do is double click on the correct one.

I’d have to say that the only thing quicker than this for using a formula is to actually have it memorized!